


The Paperboy

by superbroccolicorn



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Summer Vacation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-05
Updated: 2017-10-05
Packaged: 2019-01-09 11:25:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12275454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/superbroccolicorn/pseuds/superbroccolicorn
Summary: Summer vacation is fun, but there's only so many video games and things to do in the quintessential suburban town where Donghyuck lives. A newspaper to the face can change that.





	The Paperboy

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is the first thing I've written on here so feedback is really appreciated!

lede (n) - the introductory section of a news story that is intended to entice the reader to read the full story

 

The sun was blinding on summer mornings. Despite his heavy-duty curtains, Donghyuck would always wake up with the warm rays attacking his face when he was trying to enjoy a lazy morning of rolling around in his sheets. There were other things that disturbed Donghyuck’s sleep – namely a large bubbly morning person whom he had the pleasure of calling his best friend. 

That particular morning, Donghyuck felt a large lump hovering over him and warm breath on his face. He opened his eyes to see the largest smile he had ever seen in his life – possibly more blinding than the sun – staring down at him.

“Jaemin you have exactly three seconds to get off me,” Donghyuck threatened. Anyone who ruined his sleep was automatically no longer his best friend which meant that no lives would be spared in the name of friendship.  “Three…”

“You have really bad morning breath you know?”

Without warning, Donghyuck used all of his strength to shove Jaemin off his bed and onto his messy floor. Ignoring the whining from the once best friend now rolling on the floor, Donghyuck glared at his bedside clock, the screen reading 7:00 AM, much too early for any reasonable person to wake up during summer vacation.

Donghyuck flopped back down on his bed closing his eyes to finish his dream (he was just about to accept his first Grammy), but it was in vain. Once he was woken up, he wasn’t able to go back to sleep. Donghyuck slowly got out of his bed, kicked a suspiciously human-shaped lump on his floor a couple of times and made his way to the door, hopping over the scattered clothes, books (was that library book overdue?), and the other paraphernalia that littered his floor.

“See if your mom is making pancakes because I could really go for some blueberry pancakes. But please not banana pancakes. They’re just nasty,” piped Jaemin now laying spread eagle on Donghyuck’s floor with a rumbling stomach. 

Donghyuck didn’t spare a glance in his friend’s direction and began the trek downstairs to the kitchen where his parents were enjoying their morning tea. Instead of responding to his mother’s greeting, Donghyuck made a beeline toward the fridge, found the orange juice, and poured himself some into the largest glass he could find. He flopped down in the chair opposite his father, who was deeply engrossed in a fancy and intellectual newspaper, and rested his head on the table in frustration. 

“You’re up early, dear,” Donghyuck’s mother said, “You and Jaemin were playing video games pretty late last night.”

Before Donghyuck had the chance to explain the antics of Na Jaemin – which would most likely end up with his mother laughing at him – he heard his father’s voice, muffled by his newspaper.

“Could you get the newspaper?” 

Donghyuck shot him a bewildered look. “You’re literally reading the newspaper?”

His father’s stern gaze was piercing as he looked over his paper at Donghyuck. “This is the national newspaper, the local one should be on our doorstep by now.”

Rather than debate with his father about how old-fashioned actual newspapers were and how he could easily buy an online subscription (saving Donghyuck a trip to the door and some trees), Donghyuck dragged himself to the front door and opened it only to be hit square in the face with a large bundle of paper.

“What the actual…”

Glaring down at the fallen newspaper (which announced that the town was finally going to repave the streets), Donghyuck looked up to see a boy around his age looking at him with wide eyes and sheer panic written all over his face. Normally Donghyuck would have said something he would have never said in front of his mother, but something about the boy, maybe it was his puppy dog eyes and cute paperboy hat, left Donghyuck embarrassed with the situation.

“Oh my god. Oh my god! I’m so sorry!” the boy rambled as he struggled with the gate hinge.

To Donghyuck’s surprise, the boy began dashing up the pathway to the front door, apologizing repeatedly.

“I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry! It’s my first day and I can’t believe I threw a newspaper in someone’s face. Please don’t hate me! I’m so- “

The newspaper boy suddenly face-planted in the middle of the pathway courtesy of Donghyuck’s mother’s impressive collection of garden gnomes. The boy, becoming even more flustered (Donghyuck wondered if it was scientifically possible for a person’s face to look that red), then scrambled to his feet after a quick inspection of gnome and faced Donghyuck.

“Hi, I’m Mark,” the boy looked down, rubbing his neck, still flustered. “I’m really sorry about the newspaper... and the gnome,” he said looking behind him. 

Donghyuck was still speechless. Never before had he seen someone so awkward.

“Harold,” Donghyuck suddenly blurted out.

“Excuse me?” 

“The gnome. His name is Harold.”

“Oh… I’m sorry Harold,” Mark bowed towards the gnome with the most somber expression Donghyuck had ever seen from someone apologizing to a tacky lawn ornament.

An awkward silence grew between them as both boys refused to meet each other’s eyes.

“Nice pajama pants.” 

Donghyuck looked down to see that in fact, he was wearing pajama pants that his grandmother (who Donghyuck believed was completely off her rocker) had gifted him back when he was in elementary school. They featured multicolored penguins doing various winter sports. At this point, Donghyuck, now just as flustered at Mark, realized he needed to remove himself from this awkward situation as soon as possible.

“Don’t you have to deliver the other papers?” asked Donghyuck, gesturing back to Mark’s bicycle which was stuffed with more newspapers to be delivered. 

“Oh shoot…yeah you’re right…ummm…I’m really sorry about this whole thing,” Mark gestured at the distance between him and Donghyuck as he walked backward towards the garden gate. “Hopefully I won’t hit any- Aaaahhh!”

While Mark was walking backward, Harold met his fate. Mark had fallen to the ground once again, but this time, Harold had shattered into several pieces.

Donghyuck was simply too shocked to comprehend what had happened. How could this boy, who seemed completely normal appearance wise (cute even?), turn out to be an awkward klutz in real life? Also, how could someone trip over a garden gnome note once, but twice? 

“Oh my god…oh my god...I swear I didn’t know where I was going,” Mark was rambling on, his face now white as a sheet. “I’ll pay you back for Harold. Or can we glue him back together?”

Donghyuck, although he pitied the boy, couldn’t help take advantage of the situation. He didn’t feel nervous talking to the boy now. He didn’t think it was possible after witnessing a teenage boy trip over such an abomination landscaping.  

“Harold was a rare collectible item. You can’t just replace him! My mother paid thousands to buy him!”

Mark’s hands clutched his face, his eyes popping out after hearing what Donghyuck had told him.

“Can I pay you back gradually? I’ll pay interest, too! It’s just that I don’t get much from my newspaper delivery job and I have to go to college and- “

“You realize I was joking right?” 

“Wait, what?”

“Yeah, believe me, my Dad will be so happy Harold is gone, he’ll have a party,” Donghyuck laughed. “And if you meet my father you’ll understand how rare that would be. He hates my mother’s obsession with these things.”

“And your mom won’t notice one of her gnomes is missing?” Mark asked.

“Oh, she’ll notice for sure. Harold was her favorite. But,” Donghyuck replied as he began picking up Harold’s remains, “my dad told my mother last night that he was going to run his car over them, so I highly doubt that she’s going to think it’s the paperboy who destroyed her most prized possession.”

“You’re sure, right?” Mark still looked a bit worried as he began picking up some of the pieces and placing them in his hat. Donghyuck began placing whatever pieces he had into the hat as well.

“Yeah. She might make this an excuse to go buy some more.”

“Whose most prized possession is a garden gnome?”

Donghyuck smiled at Mark. “Ask my mother that.”

“I’d rather not,” Mark shuddered. “What are supposed to do with all the pieces?”

“I’ll keep them. My dad will probably find them amusing to look at. Shouldn’t you be on your way, though? I don’t know the time, but people around here like their newspapers.”

Donghyuck lived in a small town where practically everyone knew everyone. The local newspaper was essential if someone wanted to keep in the loop about the town events. It was said that even at the neighborhood book club meeting (where essentially no one had actually read the book but just came to get the latest gossip on everyone) the latest issue of the local newspaper was discussed. 

“Oh crap,” Mark looked back at his bike with all the neighborhood’s newspapers, “Yeah I better get going…”

Just as Mark turned around to finish his round, Donghyuck grabbed him by the shoulder, and with the most serious expression, said, “Be careful three houses down, my friend lives there and his mother really likes plastic flamingos.”

Mark, now having caught on to Donghyuck’s humor, busted out laughing and climbed onto his bike.

“I’ll pay special attention to the lawn ornaments on my route,” Mark replied and started pedaling down the street.

Donghyuck smiled and looked down in his hands where he was holding Mark’s hat (plus Harold). He would just have to give the boy’s hat back next week it seemed. Before walking back into his house, he stashed the hat behind their rose bush and picked the newspaper off of their doorstep.

Just as he opened the door, he was greeted with the same view he had this morning when he woke up. However, this time Jaemin’s face looked even more devious than just plain annoying.

“Soooo…he was cute,” Jaemin said while maintaining the same grin (which at this point Donghyuck would not mind slapping off of his face). 

“Shut up, Jaemin. I don’t have the energy to deal with you because SOMEONE woke me up at 7:00 AM THIS MORNING!”

“I was watching from your window. I can’t believe Mark took up that job. He practically runs over every pothole on the road. If he doesn’t break his neck this summer, I’ll be surprised.”

“Wait you know him?” Honestly, Donghyuck wasn’t surprised. Unlike himself, Jaemin knew everyone and was friends with everyone. When Jaemin had moved in a couple houses down back when they were five, Jaemin instantly declared that Donghyuck was his best friend and invited him over. He was on student council, played multiple sports, and was generally well liked by everyone. It wasn’t like Donghyuck wasn’t well known either, he just liked to stay in his own bubble.

“Wait you don’t know him?”

Donghyuck shrugged his shoulders in response and began heading to the kitchen. “Should I?” 

Donghyuck dropped the newspaper on the kitchen table in front of his dad. His dad gave him a grunt of acknowledgment and continued reading the paper which he already had.

“Donghyuck and Jaemin, I’m just going to water my hydrangeas, but what would you want for breakfast?” Donghyuck’s mother asked.

“I think Jaemin would really like some banana pancakes today.”

If looks could kill, Donghyuck would be lying on the kitchen floor with more stab wounds than Julius Caesar. Thankfully, all Donghyuck got was a well-aimed elbow to the ribs.

As Donghyuck clutched himself in pain (why did Jaemin have such boney elbows?), he heard the shouts of his mother who suddenly barged right back into the kitchen only to rip the newspaper out of his father’s hands.

“WHAT DID YOU DO TO HAROLD!” 

Donghyuck’s father simply glanced at his wife with the most serene expression Donghyuck had ever seen on his face. “He’s gone? How nice.”

He then proceeded to pick his newspaper back up and continued reading. But when Donghyuck’s mother went back outside, Jaemin and Donghyuck didn’t fail to notice the twinkle in his father’s eyes directed in their direction.

“Where did you put the pieces?”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Eeep! Thank you for reading!


End file.
